“SportsCenter” anchor Jemele Hill boasts the “fourth-worst Twitter account at ESPN.” Looks like she’s shooting for No. 1.
The Washington Post reported Hill has been suspended for two weeks after she violated the company’s social media guidelines over the weekend.
“Hill suggested NFL fans boycott vendors and advertisers associated with the Dallas Cowboys after franchise owner Jerry Jones told players they’d be benched if they demonstrated during the national anthem,” the Post said.
In a statement, ESPN called Hill’s previous infamous tweet — that Donald Trump is a white supremacist — “impulsive.” She apologized for it and said she was “letting her colleagues and the company down.”
Now the company is downing Hill.
“ESPN has a history of harsh punishments for staffers who cross the NFL,” the Post said. “The network suspended then fired columnist and TV personality Bill Simmons in 2017 after intense criticism of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.”
The offending tweets and ESPN statement:
This play always work. Change happens when advertisers are impacted. If you feel strongly about JJ’s statement, boycott his advertisers. https://t.co/LFXJ9YQe74
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
Or, how about not patronizing the advertisers who support the Cowboys? You can watch and do that, right? https://t.co/duPNqxFta7
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017
ESPN’s Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017